It Never Ends
by BarackandRoll28
Summary: Eight years after the First, the Hellmouth in Sunnydale remains inactive. Buffy, the only member of the gang still in town, now goes as Anne, a non-slaying soccer mom. But the Hellmouth may not be as closed as they thought...
1. Chapter 1

She used to have the dreams, but that was a long time ago. They were everywhere. It could have been a castle, a mountaintop, on the beach. He'd tell her that he would find her everywhere, and he always did. He always did find her. But that had been someone else altogether. She'd been someone else, too. So when she started having the dreams about…well, about a person she'd never expected, she was surprised, and then… The first night she'd woken up in a cold sweat. No. She wasn't having those dreams, not in the same way she used to dream about…it was guilt. Because of what he'd said to her, to make her feel guilty in the very last moments. Of course he'd said that, it was just like him to piss her off right before… And besides, the wound was still fresh. Of course she still felt it.

But the dreams kept coming. At first, they were every night. It was just grief. Just because he was gone. And then they only came once a week, a couple of nights a month. And then, it was like he could sense it, sense when she had just started, maybe, to forget it. Or at least to not be thinking about it every waking moment. She had moved on, and then the dreams would come back. A helpful reminder of everything that she had, everything that she'd never…

It didn't matter now. Everyone had left, and she was still here, and there were things to do, people who needed her. She didn't have the time, or patience for dreams. So she ignored them. And they went away. They never came now, which had been what she'd wanted, right? She wanted the dreams to go away, for _him_ to go away. And now, here she was, wishing that she was dreaming about a person that she'd spent entire years wanting out of her life. She sighed, running her fingers through her hair. _Forget it_, she willed herself. _Forget it all_.

She stood up, calling, "Liam! Come on, it's time to go."

"Aw, Mom! Five more minutes?" he pleaded.

She looked up at the sky before puling her grey sweater tighter around her body. "No, Liam. It's getting late." The sun had set a few minutes ago, and while things were a lot safer now, still…

Liam waved good-bye to his friends, who'd called a time-out in their kickball game and made his way over to her across the playground. "How was the game? Did you win?"

"I always win. I'm the fastest," Liam reminded her.

"I know you are. But you played for a really long time," she told him, wrapping him in a one-armed hug.

"But I feel _fine_," he told her with half a whine.

"That's because it's winter. What do you want for dinner?" she asked as they reached her grey Range Rover.

"Hm…tacos!" he suggested enthusiastically.

She smiled. "Okay, tacos it is, then." On her way to the house, she passed two guys leading a girl into a dark alley. But she didn't stop the car, she didn't even think twice. That wasn't her job anymore.

***

_"No. Not you. It has to be me," she told him, gripping the amulet._

_"No, Buffy. I have to do it."_

_"You can't. I won't live without you." It was off his neck with one good yank. "I love you," she whispered, kissing him hard on the mouth._

_"I love you, Buffy. Please don't do this," he begged, his blue eyes darkening._

_"Go. Get out, now. I'll be with you, always," she promised him. And then everything went dark…_

"Anne…Anne?"

She gasped, gripping at her chest. "Spike!"

Danny grinned, confused. "What? No, no spikes. You must have been having a nightmare."

"Oh, right," she said, shaking her head. "When did you get home?"

Danny rolled the sleeves of his white button-down back up, undoing the cuff links. He unbuttoned the front before giving her a quick glance. "A few minutes ago. Sorry I woke you."

She gave him a gentle smile. "That's okay. Sounds like you did me a favor, waking me from that nightmare."

"Right," Danny nodded off-handedly.

Anne pulled her knees to her chest. "Busy day?" she asked.

"Oh yeah. Boring work stuff. Liam asleep?"

Anne shrugged. "In theory. But you know how he is."

Danny smiled at her, placing his palms on either side of her face. "He's an eight-year-old. He doesn't like bedtime. _None_ of them like bedtime." He kissed her forehead and she leaned into it, smiling and closing her eyes. "You guys made tacos tonight?"

"Yeah. There are leftovers in the fridge," she told him.

He nodded. "Thanks, I'm okay. Just wiped out." Anne watched as he undressed, brushed his teeth, and got into bed next to her. "So, who do you wanna hang out with tonight? Leno, O'Brian, or Letterman?"

Anne cuddled into the space between his neck and shoulder, wrapping his arm around her. "I just wanna hang out with you."

Danny looked down at her and raised his eyebrows. "So I guess this means that _I_ get to pick?" he asked. She just smiled and nodded. He kissed her forehead again, and ran his hands through her hair as she fell back asleep. This time, there were no dreams.


	2. Chapter 2

"Okay. Now it comes down to the tough choice. Count Chocula, or the Captain?" Anne asked, placing the Count Chocula box on the kitchen counter and then the Captain Crunch.

Liam looked from the brown box to the red and back again. "The Count," he decided.

"Ooh, good choice. Let this be a lesson to you, Liam. Keep eating chocolate for breakfast for as long as you can get away with it," she told him, pouring the sugary cereal into a bowl. Anne studied her son as he took a couple of bites. His skin was looking pale, and he had dark circles under his eyes. "What time did you go to sleep last night, Li?"

Liam shrugged, looking down into his cereal bowl.

"Liam," she said in a warning tone.

"Maybe…midnight?"

"Liam! Midnight?" Anne scolded.

"What? I wasn't tired! And then I needed a bedtime snack."

"And what was your bedtime snack? Sugar cubes?" Anne asked. "That's it, we're gonna cut back on the sweets if you're too jacked up on the sugar." She was pouring herself a glass of orange juice when she heard the front door open.

"Liam? Hello!"

"Hi, Mrs. Beckett," Liam called.

"Oh, hey. We're just finishing breakfast," Anne called to her son's teacher.

"Sure, no problem," she said, joining them in the kitchen and placing her school bag on the table. "Mm, Count Chocula, a classic."

Anne nodded. "Yup. But only for now. We're gonna try a sugar-free diet. _Some_body can't get to bed on time," she said, looking pointedly at Liam. He shrugged. Anne looked back at Mrs. Beckett, who was probably only a few years older than herself. "I have some errands to run, but you two have fun. And no blinds up until…"

"After two. I remember," Mrs. Beckett nodded.

"Okay. Great. Thanks," Anne told her. "Be good," she kissed Liam's sandy blonde hair before grabbing her purse and heading out the front door.

***

Anne pulled into the University parking lot and took notice of the college kids still doing all of the same things she'd been doing in school – drinking lattes with soy milk, talking politics, listening to some incredibly cool boy playing the guitar. Of course, there had also been the demon fighting, the underground government operative, the sister from another dimension. So maybe she hadn't ever had the normal college experience… or the normal high school one. She was having the normal suburban mom experience now…kind of.

Getting out of the car, Anne made her way down the familiar path to the library, past the row of frat houses that had felt the consequences of being built on the Hellmouth. Demons in need of female sacrifices, ones who fed on fear, even a cursed house that made the victims overcome with the desire for…well, passion, to say the least. Anne tried not to remember that. It had been years and years ago, but she couldn't lie, not everything about that curse had been exactly _horrible_…

"Hey Buf…Anne."

"Hey Andrew," Anne greeted the man who still always managed to look like an awkward seventeen-year-old in her eyes.

"I got you a latte, but I wasn't sure if you took real sugar, Sweet-N-Low, or Splenda, so I brought them all," he said, gesturing to the array of white, pink, and yellow packets on the table in front of them.

"Thanks," Anne said slowly. Most of Andrew's geekiness had worn off, but he still treated her like she was a celebrity sometimes. She sat down and stirred the contents of a Splenda packet into her latte as Andrew sat across form her, opening his notebook.

"So, we were right at the part where you first met Spike," Andrew reminded her, clicking on his pen.

Anne raised her eyebrows. "Well that's putting it nicely. He was trying to kill me," she reminded him.

"Oh, right. So…how'd it go?" Andrew asked, like he was asking her about a midterm.

"Well I'm obviously still alive, so it didn't really go according to plan," she explained. Andrew nodded and Anne realized that he was waiting for her to continue. "What is this for again?" she asked.

Andrew's eager smile seemed to deflate a little. "Oh, my TV show," he explained. Anne nodded, vaguely remembering what sounded to her like another one of Andrew's hair-brained schemes. He wanted to write a TV show based off her exploits in high school. "I'll say its fiction, of course. But I think there'd be a big market for a show like this. It'd watch it, at least…" he trailed off with an awkward shrug.

"Yeah," Anne nodded again.

Andrew had known her for long enough now to know when he should speak and when he shouldn't, and he waited for a few minutes. "It's weird to think about how that was all just a few months before Angel changed."

"Angel," Anne repeated, being jogged out of her thoughts. "Do we have to talk about that? It still gives me the wiggins."

Andrew offered her a lame shrug. "I could try getting in touch with the others, but you're the one with most of the information," he told her, confirming her fears. "Angel was the first time you and Spike got together, wasn't it?"

"What? No!" Anne denied vehemently. "We didn't…we never…not until a long, _long_ time after me and Angel."

"Oh, no, I know. I just meant the first time you guys teamed up. You know, joined forces," Andrew offered.

Anne paused. "Oh. Well…yeah. He wanted Drusilla, so we traded. Kind of stupid, making a deal with a vampire. But he loved her. No denying that…" Anne trailed off.

"And," Andre started tentatively, "Drusilla, she was insane, right?"

"Believe me when I say totally and completely," Anne confirmed. "Out of her mind. Always saying these completely crazed things. She was vicious, though. And as crazy as she was, she could see things that normal people never could." He'd told her once, about all that Dru had seen, about how she'd seen it, even before he head. "She's all over you," Dru had told him. And she'd been right.

Anne and Andrew talked for a little while longer before Andrew had to make a screen writing class and she had to food shop. She got up from the table as Andrew packed his notebook and pen back into his messenger bag. "Well…I'll see you next week," Anne told him awkwardly.

"Yeah," Andrew nodded.

"'Kay…bye." She turned around and made for the library doors.

"Buffy."

She paused and slowly turned.

Andre jogged over to where she was, so that he was standing close enough for her to head his whisper. "Do you miss it?" she blinked back, like he'd slapped her. "The excitement, I mean."

Anne opened and closed her mouth a few times. "Well I…Yes, Andrew, I miss my friends, and being young. But it wasn't ever exciting. It wasn't a TV show and at the end, nobody yelled, 'Cut' and we all got to go home. I miss being young. But things are better this way, really."

Andrew nodded slowly, giving her a tight-lipped smile. She could tell that he wasn't completely convinced. "Well…I'll see you."

"Sure," she nodded before heading to her car again, driving away, and not looking back.


	3. Chapter 3

Anne wasn't going to do it. She wasn't going to give in. She was determined to leave the grocery store with nothing that would leave her eight-year-old son on a sugar high that he wouldn't come down from until midnight. But…a few Pop-Tarts wouldn't hurt. And she could hide them… With a sigh, Anne put them back don on the shelf. Liam would find them if she hid them, he always did. Oh well. She'd just have to start eating better, too. Or…she could stop at the Double Meat Palace and grab a milkshake. The mere thought of the place made her shiver, and she decided that no sweet was worth the awful memories _that _would bring back.

Anne was in the checkout line, tossing a Snickers bar onto the belt when the headline of the newspaper caught her eye. _High School Vandalized with Strange Message_. She looked away. So some high school kids had thought it's be fun to toilet paper the school. It probably _was_ fun. But it was nothing more than that. Just a prank… Anne glances back just once more, this time her eye caught the picture. "Beneath." Someone had spray painted the word, "beneath" on one wall of the high school. Anne swallowed hard. It was just a coincidence. It had nothing to do with any of that old stuff. That was all over now. She shook her head. The cops would catch the fifteen year old responsible. He'd probably just drank one too many of his parents' wine coolers and had been feeling brave. It wasn't that big a deal, really…

It was four o'clock that afternoon by the time Anne pulled the Range Rover back into the driveway, and she was glad to see that Liam and Mrs. Beckett had opened all the windows. "It's a good thing that Mom's home with the food, because I've been feeling _puckish_," Liam said as Anne dropped a couple of grocery bags on the kitchen floor.

"Very good, Liam. We just learned that word," Mrs. Beckett explained to Anne.

"Mrs. Beckett says I'm always hungry," Liam told Anne as he rummaged through the bags. "Where are the doughnuts?"

"I told you," Anne reminded him. "No doughnuts. Get back to school, I'll make you a snack," she told him, putting away some groceries. "Hey, did you see the paper on the way in?" she asked Mrs. Beckett.

"Oh, yeah. I left it by the front door," she told Anne.

"Thanks." She'd read it later tonight in bed. There wasn't anything urgent in there, anyway.

Anne cut Liam some carrots before going upstairs and stripping his bed to do laundry. She was yanking off the sheets when she found it, the sketchpad that came tumbling off the bed and onto the floor. Anne frowned, picking it up. When it had fallen it had opened to one of the pages, and she was just going to toss it onto Liam's desk when one image caught her eye. He'd been drawing, Anne could tell that these were Liam's sketches. As she turned the thick pages she could barely breathe.

The first few were just shadows, outlines that, had Anne not known the person they were supposed to be of, she wouldn't have been able to make any sense of. But the next few were far too detailed to be coincidence. They were only fragments of him, really, but distinct ones. Eyes the color of the Caribbean Ocean. Pale, full lips. The slightly crooked front teeth. The scar above the left eyebrow. Cheek bones that could cut through steel. How could Liam know all of this? She certainly hadn't told him. And there was nothing else, not a picture, not a detailed description of what he looked like. The only place where any image of him still existed was in Anne's mind, and now, apparently, in Liam's.

The pictures got more graphic. The fragments had started to come together, he was surrounded by a bright, white lights, like the last time Anne had seen him. In others, he looked…wild, crazed, the way he'd been after…after everything…And then in others still, was his true face. Yellow eyes. Fangs. Evil.

Anne shut the sketchpad and tossed it back under the bed, like it had burned her fingers. Her breath was coming in quick, shallow spurts. How did Liam know all this? She couldn't ask, or didn't want to. She wanted Liam to grow up, be normal, not have to worry about any of that. Asking would only make her have to explain more, and Liam didn't seem too distraught about it, anyway. She sighed. There was no chapter about this in any parenting book _she _could find.

Mrs. Beckett left at six and Anne enlisted Liam to help her make dinner. Giving him a sideways glance she asked, "So. How was school?"

"Fine," Liam told her.

"Good."

"When's Dad coming home?" Liam asked.

Anne shrugged. "I don't know. He's been working a lot lately. Why?" she asked.

"'Cause I wanna play soccer! Will you play with me?" he asked.

"Sure. After dinner, though."

She and Liam were setting the table when Danny came home. "Hey guys," he greeted them, planting a kiss on Liam's head.

"Dad! Can you play soccer with me after dinner?" he asked.

"Sure, Li. No problem. Been working on bending it like Beckham?" he asked, ruffling Liam's hair.

"Who?" Liam asked.

Danny looked back at Anne. "God, we're old."

She smiled. "Nah. He just…you know…young."

He agreed and greeted her with a hug and a peck on the mouth, from which Liam averted his eyes with a gagging noise. "How was your day? Anything exciting happen?"

Anne shrugged. "Oh you know, did the laundry. But I used a new scent of fabric softener. That was pretty exciting."

"It's the little things," Danny jokingly agreed.

They were eating dinner and talking about how high Liam could count in how many different languages when Danny brought it up. "Speaking of schools, did you hear about the high school?" he asked Anne.

"Oh, just a little," she shrugged casually.

"Weird, huh? I mean, if a kid's gonna spray paint something, you'd figure it'd be something bad. Like sh…the 'S' word. Or the 'F' word," he censored himself.

"Fat?" Liam offered.

"Right. Fat," Danny winked at Anne.

"Yeah. It's pretty strange. But…teenagers. You know how they are," she waved a hand. "I'm sure it was just a stupid prank."

Anne cleaned up after dinner while Danny and Liam played soccer in the backyard under the safety of the stars. She called them in afet about an hour, reminding Liam that he should be getting to bed at a regular hour with his no-sugar diet. He groaned and headed up the stairs to change into his pajamas. Anne sat down on the couch, opened the paper, and was joined shortly by Danny. "How was soccer?" she asked.

"Good. He's a good athlete. Strong, fast, light on his feet." He paused a few minutes before tentatively and carefully adding, "His dad much have been an athlete."

Anne didn't look up from the paper. "No, he wasn't."

Danny nodded slowly. "Well, it's too bad, about his allergy. He could play on a rec ream, if we knew more about it maybe."

"Maybe," Anne said, noncommittally.

"Do we know of anyone we could ask? His father's parents, maybe?"

"They're dead."

"Siblings."

"None." Anne finally looked up from the paper. She could see Danny's frustration written all over his face. "Listen, I know it's frustrating. But you _know_ that if I could find out more information, I would," she assured him.

Danny gave her hand a squeeze. "Yeah, I know." He kissed her quickly on the mouth before pulling her closer to him on the couch. "What's new in Sunnydale?"

"Oh, just reading about that thing at the high school," she told him off-handedly.

"Anything interesting?"

"No," Anne started, as her eyes scanned the next sentence. _At first thought to be pray paint, the Sunnydale police have confirming that the substance used to write the word was blood_. "Just the usual," she concluded. "Nothing out of the ordinary."


	4. Chapter 4

_"I won't let you do it," he told her, clutching onto the amulet._

_"I'll fight you," she assured him. "You won't win."_

_"I'll try."_

_"What's the point? Listen to me. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I never told you before now, but you were right. All those times you told me that I loved you, you were right. Please. I can't lose everyone that I love. I'm not afraid. Just let it be me." She kissed him hard, on the mouth, distracting him long enough to steal the amulet. "Go."_

_"Buffy."_

_"I love you. Now go."_

_"I love you." Another long, hard kiss. "I'll always…"_

"NO!" Anne shouted, sitting up and grabbing the air in front of her.

Danny frowned at her from where he was standing in front of the full-length mirror, tying his tie. "Anne? You okay?"

"Yeah," she blinked. "Another dream."

"Spikes?"

"What?"

"About spikes again?"

"Oh, no. About…this thing…I kind of forget," she lied.

"Well, get back to sleep. I'm going into the office kind of early, got a meeting today. I'll be home late," he told her.

"Sure. Meeting. More like off to L.A. for the day with your hot secretary," Anne sulked.

Danny laughed. "Yup. Me and Maude have to hurry, though, or we'll miss the early-bird special." He kissed her on the forehead. "I'll see you later tonight."

"Okay." Anne tried to go back to sleep, but she couldn't seem to, and the reason was no secret. As quietly as she could, she tip-tied down the stairs and out the front door. The sun was just beginning to rise, and Anne figured that the paper had only recently been dropped off. She picked it up off the front lawn and opened it, pulling it out it's blue translucent wrap with one good tug. Her heart sank as she read the headline. "'You' Added to High School Wall."

Anne headed inside, sitting down at the table while reading the article about the curious graffiti on the high school. Yesterday the paper had reported that someone (or, Anne thought more likely some_thing_) had added a "from" to the "beneath." Now, on the third night, the "you" had appeared. They couldn't figure out a way to get it down, no scrubbing it off or covering it up. And they'd determined that the blood was an animal's, but three different ones. Anne gulped, wondering which poor, innocent squirrel had been out looking for nuts when…

Okay, but back to the serious. She couldn't avoid it anymore, or pretend it was coincidence. Putting the newspaper down on the table, she headed down to the basement, wading through all of the piles of junk, unused toys, clothes that Liam had grown out of, until she found what she was looking for in the very back corner.

Just seeing it there made her heart wrench. A birthday gift from old friend who had since moved way, way on. Dusting off the layers of disuse with her fingers, Anne opened the wooden crosses, a crossbow. Would she even still know how to use them? What if she wasn't strong enough? She'd been out of commission for almost a decade. She wasn't sure if slaying was like riding a bike…but there was only one way to find out.

***

Anne couldn't help but feel the adrenaline pumping through her all day. Her hands shook, her heartbeat was rapid. It was her body's natural instinct she assured herself. It didn't mean that she was looking _forward_ to it or anything. And she did have a few reservations. For starters, she was leaving Liam alone in the house. An eight-year-old alone while evil was afoot didn't seem like a great idea, but Anne was pretty confident that nothing bad would happen until the phrase on the high school wall was complete.

She made sure that Liam was asleep before strapping a cross and stake onto her ankle under her pants and taking the crossbow. She walked the familiar streets, past the graveyard and the old mansion. Anne stopped, looking up and taking a deep breath. Her heart gave the tiniest of pangs as the memories started coming back to her. She didn't think that she had ever been more broken hearted than she had been in that old abandoned mansion. Liam was never going to have to go through anything like that. He would have as normal a life as possible, and that definitely did not include hanging out in old, creepy mansions, or warehouses.

Shaking her head, Anne kept walking until she reached the high school where she found…nothing. There was nobody around for miles. Anne sighed, regretting her decision not to invite Andre out with her. At least that way she'd have company. But she'd wanted this time to be…well, hers.

Anne had just resolved that nothing even remotely interesting was going to happen wand was about to head home when she saw a figure making its way toward the school. She couldn't make out a face, only bumps around the forehead under a streetlight. Anne ducked behind a power generator and watched the person (or thing) come closer. Something was wriggling under it's arm and she heard a whimper a few seconds before a sickening crack. A puppy. This thin had killed a puppy?

"So, nothing else to do tonight, you had to go out and find a poor, defenseless puppy to kill?" Anne asked, standing and approaching the vampire. She prepared herself for an attack, or at least an acknowledgment, but none came. "_Hello_. Out of commission slayer over here, reactivating for a one night only performance. Aren't you even gonna blink?" The vampire still continued dotting the bloody "i" on the wall. "Okay, this has gotta get more interesting." Anne kicked the vamp in the side and he fell over, looking up at her from the ground. She went to kcik him again when he grabbed her foot and yanked her down with him. The wind was knocked out of her as he kicked her in the pelvis and squatted over her. "Okay, moment of truth," she wheezed out, grabbing his torso and throwing it behind her. She grabbed the wooden stake out of her ankle band and grinned. "Nope. I still got it."

"Slayer," the vampire growled.

"That's me," Anne agreed in a peppy voice. "And you're about to be dust."

"Just try me. No one's seen you in years."

"Yeah, took a little 'me' time, but I'm back and better than ever."

"We'll see about that." He lunged at her and Anne kicked him away. He fell to the floor again and she crouched down to stake him from above. He clutched onto her shoulders, squeezing hard, and shoved her to his side. He sat on her, so heavy, heavier than she'd remembered they were. His fangs bared, she tried to push him off of her, but her strength wasn't as lasting as it had been, it seemed. Anne couldn't help but think that, after all she'd been through, she was going to die here, bitten by just your average, run-of-the-mill creature of the night when –

"Argh!" Anne blinked as the vampire burst into dust, and then the particles disappeared. She stood up quickly, jumping to her feet, taking close to no notice of the other person who'd joined her until –

"Hello there, Love. Been a while."

Hours passed. People lived, and died. A caterpillar spun it's own cocoon, and them reemerged, completely metamorphosed. But it was only seconds, really, before Anne got out, "You."


	5. Chapter 5

She'd dated taller guys before. Angel was broad shouldered, Riley towered over her. Spike was shorter than them, but still tall by anyone's standards. And that way they could be closer to eye-level with each other. Now, though, he seemed taller, broader, more. Just…more. His skin almost glowed, it was so pale. Anyone could have mistaken him for a ghost. But no, he was another animal entirely.

Slowly, carefully, Buffy stretched out her hand, brushing her fingertips to his pale, sunken cheeks. The warmth surprised her and, with a quick gasp she jerked her hand back. "Who…what are you?"

He bent his head to one side, giving her a curious look. It had been so long, since she'd gotten that look. Her heart wrenched. She wanted to cry, to give in…but she didn't trust it. "Forgotten about me already, have you? I know it's been a while, but I thought you'd at least remember the best shag of your life," he said, taking a few steps toward her.

He reached for her hand again but she stepped backwards, out of his reach. "Whatever you are, you're not Spike. Spike died. I saw it."

"And what? You think you're the only one who can pull the back-from-the-dead thing…twice?" he asked.

Buffy shook her head. "But you…how…?"

"Angel, believe it or not."

"Angel…" she repeated dumbly.

"Was hauntin' him for a while, then they decided they needed me to fight the apocalypse, so the good ol' boys at Wolfram and Hart concocted a way to resurrect me. So now, here I am, mind, body, and soul."

The last part made Buffy's spine freeze. _Soul_. She looked up into his eyes, the color of the middle of an ice cube. "Is…is it real?" she whispered, mostly to herself. Remembering something, she muttered, "It could be the First."

"It's not," he assured her.

She took a couple of steps closer to him, close enough to feel him, to smell him – cigarette smoke, whiskey, cologne. It was real. That was why she'd been having the dreams, that was why Liam had been sketching him. Because it was a sign, a prophecy. Before she could decide upon what to do, or cry, or run back home, he spoke up.

"Listen, Buffy, I was going to tell you, when they…resurrected me, I mean. But I thought…" He was trying to stay calm, but got frustrated and, in a more demanding tone continued. "Well, I thought that this what you wanted, to move on, have a normal life, after…everything."

"You didn't even want to ask me what I wanted?" she snapped.

Spike nodded. "You're angry, I deserve that. But I wasn't sure how much longer…The apocalypse was coming, and then Angelus came back and it was a busy time," he pointed out. "We tried to find you, in Italy, you and Dawn, but…" Spike gave a lame shrug.

Buffy shook her head. What would have happened, anyway? How would things have changed? It was better, the way it was now… "No, it's…that's fine."

Spike raised his eyebrows. "Fine?"

"What are you even doing back here?" she asked.

"Just wanted to see how things were going back in good old Sunnydale." He paused. "So…how are thing? Kind of surprised to see you out tonight, Thought the Hellmouth was all closed up."

Buffy shrugged. "Oh. Well, yeah. Not much action these days. Still just a couple of stragglers."

"And alone, no less. Where's the rest of the posse?" he asked.

No. This was too…too much. "Spike, I have to get back, actually."

He held his hands up. "I get it. It's too weird. You need time to digest."

"What? Oh, well…yeah, kinda. How long are you in town for?" she asked.

Spike shrugged, giving her a once-over. "Sort of undecided," he told her.

_I'm married!_ Anne's mind screamed. _Just say it, "I am married."_ "Oh. Right. Well…I'll see you around," she waved to him before turning around and heading back to the house. As soon as she was sure that he wasn't following her, she started off at a sprint towards home.


	6. Chapter 6

_From beneath you, it devours._

_From beneath you, it devours._

_From beneath you, it devours._

_From beneath…_

"Mom. Mooooom!" Liam called, waving a hand in front of her face.

Anne shook her head. "Yeah, sweetheart?"

"Can I have a brownie?"

She placed a hand on her hip. "Liam, no."

"But it's _Fri_day! It's the weekend. Come oooooon," he whined.

"Okay, fine," she relented. "What do you want to do tonight? Maybe we can go out for dinner when Danny gets home," she suggested.

Liam frowned. "Why don't you ever call him 'Dad'?"

"What?" Anne blinked.

"Danny. I mean, I know he's not_ really_ my dad. But I call him 'Dad.' You never do."

Anne turned her back on Liam, pretending to wipe down the counter to hide her tears. "I don't know, Liam. I guess I've never thought about it."

"Mom?"

"Mhm?"  
"What did he look like?"

Anne turned back around to see Liam. His big, blue eyes stared back at her, filled with questions. "Who, sweetheart?"

Liam paused before clarifying, "You know, my real dad?"

She cleared her throat. Anne's policy with Liam had always to be honest with him, if he ever asked. But up until now, he hadn't seemed too interested in his biological father. Her heart sank as she realized that the reason that Liam was wondering about him now was because Spike was back. This was all supernatural. She wasn't sure how to be honest about this kind of stuff. "Well…he was um…he…tall, kind of and…his hair…"

Right at that moment, the doorbell rang. Liam seemed to forget all about his question and his face lit up. "Uncle Andrew!" he exclaimed, jumping out of his chair and rushing to the front door. He opened it and Andrew walked in, but the thought of his biological father wasn't as forgotten as Anne had assumed. "Did Uncle Andrew know my dad?" he asked.

Andrew looked to Anne for the answer. "Um…yeah. Uncle Andrew knew your dad really well."

Liam blinked up at him. "What did he look like?" he asked.

"Oh, he was cool," Andrew excitedly assured Liam.

"Andrew, maybe we can talk about this later," she cut him off. Then, she turned to Liam. "Li, why are you asking these questions all of a sudden?"

He shrugged. "I don't know any other kids like me. Did my dad have the… allergy?" he asked.

Anne reached out and squeezed his shoulder. "He did. And Liam, you can ask about him any time you want. You know that, right?" she promised him. He nodded, looking forlornly at the ground. Anne smiled. "Why don't you go grab a browning for Uncle Andrew from the kitchen, alright?" Liam nodded, slowly making his way into the kitchen. Anne stood up and gave Andrew a serious look. "We've got trouble."

Andrew blinked. "What? With Liam? What's wrong?"

"No, not with Liam. With the First, I think."

Andrew paused before shaking his head slowly. "No, Anne, that all ended a long time ago."

"Andrew, I'm serious, look," she insisted, gesturing to the papers on the coffee table. "I went out last night, just to check it out."

"And?" Andrew asked, his eyes scanning the article.

Anne shrugged. "Nothing. There was just this vamp there, trying to finish the job." She opened her mouth. "And…and something else…"

"Brownies!" Liam announced, handing one to Andrew.

"Thanks little guy," Andrew said, taking a brownie from the plate before looking back at Anne with that fearful, questioning look she hadn't seen in a long time.

"Forget about it. It's no big," she decided.

Andrew gave a relieved sigh and headed to Liam's room to help him organize his action figures. Anne shook her head. It made no difference if Spike was here or not. She had Danny and Liam now. Whatever she and Spike had been was ancient history. Hopefully he'd leave in a few days and then everything would go back to normal. Or at least the way they'd been a week ago. This wasn't normal anyway, not really.

***

"Is this what you did for seven years? Sat around in the graveyard for hours?" Andrew asked.

Anne shrugged. "Sometimes. Willow and Xander came along some nights, too."

Andrew shivered. "Oh. Cool. I'll probably have to write more action into the show." He was quiet before suggesting, "And I guess Angel was around, too."

"Yeah," Anne answered briskly. She looked around the graveyard one more time before turning to Andrew. "You know what, I don't think there's gonna be any action tonight."

"Oh," Andrew said, unable to keep the relief out of his voice.

Shaking her head, Anne placed her hands on her hips. "That's so strange…I could have sworn…" She snapped out of her own thoughts. "I'll do a sweep by the high school, but you can probably go. Thanks for coming out tonight."

"Oh, no problem. But I did kind of think that it was gonna be a little more…"

"Exciting?" Anne offered.

Andrew gave her a tense, awkward half smile before saying good night and making for the safety of his car.

Anne took her time strolling to the high school. She wasn't really in any hurry to go back there, plus she'd left Liam with Danny, whom she'd told she'd joined a book club and wouldn't be home until late. Coming up on the building, Anne re-read the unfinished message on the wall. "From beneath you, i." Anne looked down at the landscaping under her feet, expecting a rumble, or some sign that, so many years ago, it had only been a sheer layer between this world and Hell.

She stood there for a little while, pacing, hiding if she thought she saw a shadow. Anne had half-hoped that there would be a clue as to what this was about. If Spike hadn't shown up the other night and killed that vampire, she maybe could have interrogated it…or she would have been dead. Well, no one had come tonight. It was just a prank, or a fluke. No big. With a contented sigh, Anne turned and made for her house. But…as she walked past the familiar blocks, she felt her heart give a dull pull. At the last second, Anne decided to take a detour, turning down Robello Drive.

Just looking at the front door brought an onslaught of memories. This was where she'd thrown Angel out, after she thought he'd tried to kill her mother. And it was where she'd cast the spell to send him out for good, once he'd lost his soul. It was where she and Spike had killed their first vampire together, the same night she'd confessed to her mom what she was. And there, behind that tree, was the place she'd find littered with cigarette butts while Spike waited for her, a place where they'd gotten off on the cheap thrill of getting away with it, right under their noses…

Anne sighed, quietly making her way to the back of the house. Whoever lived there now had no idea. They didn't know about she and Angel's first kiss in her bedroom, or how hard she'd cried once she found out that he'd lost his soul, and that it was her fault. They didn't know that the living room was the place where she'd found her mother's body, or the hug that had been shared in the front hall with Dawn after the funeral. They didn't know that, in the dining room was where she and Willow had found out that Angel had killed Miss Calendar. They didn't know about the time that Spike had confronted her in the upstairs bathroom, held her down, nearly gotten away with it. They hadn't felt how hard her heart had been pounding with fright, or the bruises they days after, reminding her how close he'd come. They hadn't seen the look of shock and disgust with himself on his face before he'd fled the scene.

Anne sighed, sitting down on the steps of the black porch. She was only half surprised to see a pair of combat boots, black denim jeans, and the hem of a long, leather trench coat emerge from the woods behind her house. She smiled faintly. "Hello Spike."

"Caught me," he said, falling back into a time and place where everyone she loved was only a ten minute drive away, and she knew how every day was going to end; safe, warm, in her bed. There had been more to fear back then - evil, monsters, things that went "bump" in the night. But she'd known and understood those things. Home-schooling teachers, rare allergies, sugar-free diets, and a non-biological family. She wasn't sure she'd ever get the hang of those.

_You have no choice,_ a voice in the back of her mind reminded her. Anne stood then. "You really shouldn't be here," she told him.

He just grinned. "Like I haven't heard that before."

Anne chuckled. "No, not…not that. I don't live here anymore," she explained.

Spike blinked. "Oh. Well…that's new." They were both quiet for a while, and Anne figured that he was thinking the same thing she was. It wasn't new, not to her, anyway. He hadn't been here for eight years, of course things had changed. "You know, funny thing," Spike finally spoke up. "I've been lookin' 'round for the rest of the Scoobies. Couldn't find any of 'em."

"No, you wouldn't. I mean, you won't," Anne nodded. "Everybody…well, they sorta left."

Spike's eyebrows rose. "Left? They left you all alone on the Hellmouth?"

She shrugged. "It's not too Hellmouthy anymore. Xander got married and moved away. Didn't wanna raise his kids here."

"Well, can't blame him for that," Spike agreed with a snort.

"Willow went back to London to work with the Watcher's Council. Giles is some other girl's watcher in Cleavland. And Faith said that if the Sox ever won the World Series, she'd go back to Boston, and then they did, so she did." Buffy was vaguely aware of the fact that she was babbling.

"And the Little Bit?" Spike asked of Dawn.

"She's up at Berkeley," Buffy smiled.

"School?"

"Yeah. Well, she graduated two years ago. She opened the Magic Box up there. There's a pretty high demand for the wacky on campus."

"Oh, so there's a Hellmouth there, too?" Spike asked.

Frowning, Buffy realized she'd never really thought about that before. "No, just a lot of weirdos."

"Ah," he nodded.

Smiling, Buffy shrugged. "Actually, the only person who stuck around here was Andrew."

Spike's eyes widened before he laughed, amused. "Well! Shoulda guessed that one. No way he'd leave Buffy the Great."

Buffy shrugged. "He's got some crazed idea about writing a TV show about… everything."

Spike frowned. "Don't know anyone who'd wanna watch that."

"Yeah, me neither. Believe it or not, I had enough fun living it." She and Spike smiled and she sat back down on the steps. They were quiet for a few minutes as Spike sat next to her. "How come you're always around when I'm miserable?" she'd asked him, years ago. Not that she'd minded. If she was miserable, Spike showed up, and it was like…a distraction or something. She never had to pretend around Spike. If she was miserable, she was miserable, if she was being a bitch, she was being a bitch. And none of it had ever made a difference. He'd loved her anyway.

He placed one hand on her knee. She could feel the heat through his palm. Before Spike had gotten his soul back, he'd always been cold. When he touched her, it was surprising how chilled his hands were. It had made her shiver, tingling her all over. But now his palm was so warm, and on that last night they'd spent together, when he'd pulled her into him, she could feel his heart beating. It was only the second time in her life when she'd asked, "Would it really be impossible? To stay like this forever." Both times the answer had been a resounding, yes, it would.

That though brought her back to Earth, to this life where she had a child, and a son. Buffy sprung up off the step and turned to face Spike, who was giving her a questioning look. "Spike, I'm married," she blurted out. Except she'd said it so fast that it kind of just sounded like one word. "Spikeuhmarred."

"Well, it's right presumptuous of you to assume I was trying to start all that again," he said defensively.

Buffy crossed her arms over her chest. "Were you?"

Spike looked defensive for a second longer before relaxing with a sigh. "Alright, it might've crossed my mind…once or twice." With another look, he admitted, "Or a hundred times. But I thought it might be a long shot anyway. After all, it's been eight years." Spike's eyes searched hers. Buffy stared back with the steady clarity that she'd perfected a long time ago. He started taking steps toward her, staring into her eyes with that penetrating look she used to be so good at fending off. "Eight years. Three months. Twenty-six days. But who's counting, eh?"

Buffy took a couple of steps backwards. "Spike…" she whispered, looking down as his hands reached for hers. She let him clasp them for one brief second before making a lame attempt to take them back.

He let go anyway, forcing out a thin smile. "Guess it was a lot to hope for."

"Yeah," Buffy nodded quietly. "I mean…not that you're…or anything. It's just…too late."

"Got it," Spike agreed. But instead of backing away, he placed his hands on her hip, pressing his forehead to hers. Buffy shut her eyes, just for a second, feeling her heart beat. It wasn't any quicker than usual, just harder, just more. It was just like before, had felt just like this before… "I'll see you around, Slayer," he whispered.

"Okay," she agreed. They stayed there like that for a few more minutes. With a tug on her heart, Buffy noted, "One of us is going to have to leave now."

"Course," Spike said, with obviously no intention to actually move. "You're right."

"Okay. On three. One, two…" Before she counted to three, Buffy opened her eyes. Spike's were still closed. The street lamps made his pale skin glow, like dewdrops on grass in the early hours of the morning. Without speaking the last number, the two of them both rook a step backwards, away from each other. "Well…see you…" Buffy awkwardly bid him farewell. She turned her back and made for the street when Spike spoke up again.

"I'll be in town, you know." She turned slowly again to face him. "Figured I'd stay around, figure out what's going on with the message. Just in case you need a partner to patrol…or someone to talk to who doesn't camp outside for the release of Star Trek: The Movie."

Buffy smiled weakly. "Sure. Thanks. Good night," she said, before turning around and walking away. She'd done it before so many times, but it never did get any easier.


	7. Chapter 7

A week later, Liam and Mrs. Beckett were going over the main causes of the first World War when Danny walked in the front door, exclaiming, "Thank _God_ it's Friday!" Anne watched Mrs. Beckett look up at Liam, eyebrows raised.

Liam gave her a restrained smile. "Hey Dad. I'm still in school."

She nodded. "Good boy. But, since it's Friday and we're all Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand-ed out, I'd say we're done for today," she obliged.

"Yes!" Liam exclaimed before jumping out of his chair and greeting Danny by the front door.

Anne smiled before turning to Mrs. Beckett. "How is he?"

Mrs. Beckett shrugged. "He's doing fine. Easily distracted, but most eight-year-old boys are. He's a smart kid. A lot of potential."

"Good," Anne nodded.

Mrs. Beckett gave her a good-natured grin. "Well…there's something else."

"Yeah?" Anne asked.

"Liam is reaching that age where he's learning how to manipulate," Mrs. Beckett spoke slowly, like she was trying to be careful. "Being as smart as Liam, and learning to be manipulative at the same time can get pretty dangerous in the teenage years."

Crossing her arms over her chest, Anne watched Danny pick Liam up, dangling him by his ankles. "Yeah. His father was a _master _manipulator," Anne pointed out. She caught a concerned look from Mrs. Beckett and started to talk again before the teacher could ask questions. "He's been…asking, lately, about his father. His biological one, I mean. Do you…I mean, I don't really know…how to do this."

Mrs. Beckett offered Anne a kind smile, for which she was _very_ grateful. "There are a lot of families who go through similar issues. In my experience, it's best to be as honest as you can. That being said, if there are details that you feel can be admitted, then that's certainly your decision."

Anne said thanks for the advice, but felt a little deflated. She'd wanted a clear-cut answer, be honest, or keep lying. But then…she wasn't really lying, was she? Everything that she'd told Liam was the truth. Sure, she'd left out certain parts, but he was eight. She'd tell him the rest as it became necessary, that had always been her plan. She just hadn't expected now to be that time. And plus, Liam was only half the problem. She'd still be lying…

"Hey Mom, what do you say?"

Anne blinked. "Huh? About what?"

"Dominoes and scary movies tonight," Danny proposed, pretending to drop Liam.

She smiled. "That sounds perfect. Friday night. Especially the part that involves me changing into sweats and not leaving the house."

Danny chuckled and gave her a kiss. Anne kissed back and Danny gave her a questioning look. She returned it with a coy smile.

Later that night, Liam had passed out in a pizza-induced coma. Danny carried him to bed while Anne changed from her sweats and into a red, silk bathrobe. When she emerged, Danny smiled slowly. "There's my girl."

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

He got off the bed and placed his hands on her hips. "I just feel like you've been distant the past few days, like I haven't seen you in months."

Anne's heart gave a violent wrench as she placed her arms on either side of his face. "I'm right here," she told him. "I'm not going anywhere." Anne knew as soon as she said it that it had to be true, whether or not she wanted it to be. She'd done enough following her heart when she was younger. She didn't have that luxury anymore.

***

"Mom! Mom! Mom! Ma! Ma! Mom! Ma!"

Anne clutched onto the phone. "Liam, I am on the phone right now," she reminded him with a patient tone that had taken years to perfect.

"With who?" he asked, kicking the soccer ball into the kitchen.

Anne picked it up and held it under her arm. "With Aunt Dawn. And I told you not to play soccer in the house," she reminded him.

"But you _said_ you'd take me to the park," he whined.

Well, he had her there. "Dawny, I have to go. But I'll call you back, promise."

"No you won't, you never do," Dawn pointed out. "But it's cool. I've got a frat party to go to."

"Dawn, you've been out of college for two years."

"So what? I can't go to the Phi Kappa Alpha parties just 'cause I'm old?"

"Okay, but be careful."

"Don't worry. I'll be on the lookout for any teeny tiny little demons or sex spells that make you bone all night."

"Dawn!"

"Later Buffy. Say hi to the munchkin for me."

"Bye Dawn," Anne hung up the phone and turned to Liam. "Okay, let's go."

Liam punched the air with a, "Yesss!"

"Come on, Pele, in the car." Anne and Liam headed for the driveway and Liam got into the car. "So Aunt Dawn's gonna come visit us for a few days," she told him.

"Cool! Why?"

"Because she wants to see you."

"Does she want to see you?"

"Hm…now that you mention that, she didn't say she wanted to see me."

"Cool!" Liam laughed.

"Oh yeah, you'll be laughing _real_ hard. I told her all about your new diet, so don't try and get any…" Anne's voice trailed off as they passed the high school. On the side of the building, the message had added a letter. "From beneath you it" it now read.

"Candy, I know. Why'd you have to tell her?" Liam finished her sentence.

"Because it's good for you," Anne said, her voice sounding distracted even to herself.

They got to the park and Anne opened the back sliding door for Liam. "Listen, I have to go do something really quick…"

"What?"

As Anne looked down at Liam's big blue eyes, his sweet, innocent face, she was disgusted with herself. "Um…return a library book. I have to do it now before they close, I just remembered."

"From your book club?"

Her heart gave another pang. It wasn't only that she was lying to her eight-year-old child, but he was starting to keep track of them. This only made her feel worse. Lying to Danny was necessary; lying to Liam was just corrupt. "Right. From my book club. I'll be right back though, okay?"

"Kay" Liam agreed, hopping out of the car and joining the other kids.

Anne asked one of the other mothers to keep an eye on Liam before getting back into the car. She waited until she'd turned a corner and was out of eyesight of the playground before she started to speed up. Anne screeched to a halt at the graveyard and was surprised at how easily she remembered the way around the place. _Well that's what happens when you spend seven years of your life there_, she thought. Anne paused in front of the doors to the mausoleum. Never in a million yeas had she thought she'd be back here.

Cautiously, Anne knocked on the door. Her knuckles had barely tapped it for the second time when it flew open. "Clem! Good to see you, mate! I haven't forgotten that you owe me some kittens!" Spike had opened the door, greeted her, and then turned his back, lighting a cigarette. Anne stood there for a minute while Spike slowly turned. "You're not Clem."

"Nope. Sorry, no Clem," Anne answered. "But between the two of us, I always thought I was the pretty one."

Spike chuckled. "So to what ghostie or ghoulie do I owe this visit?"

"The one that's been writing on the wall of the high school," Anne said, walking inside of the crypt. The upstairs looked just like Spike had never left it. The armchair, the old crappy TV that she'd assumed he'd gone dumpster diving for. For just a split second, Anne wondered if the downstairs looked the same…but only for a second.

"Ah. I see," Spike nodded, exhaling. "Well, visit to Willie's might clear some things up. If it's still there, I mean."

Anne shrugged. "Yeah, you're probably right. You should go to Willie's."

The corners of Spike's mouth curled up into a smirk and he took a couple of steps towards her. "Came by to see if I wanted any help with that, did you?"

"Please, Spike, my days of interrogating Willie are _long_ behind me," she told him.

"Oh, spare me. I'm not the wives at your book club, Slayer," Spike insisted. "I know you're just burnin' to get back out there." As he said this, he brushed his fingertips up her arm, shoulder, to her neck.

Before she could break out in goose bumps, Anne took a step back. "No, I'm really not."

"Buffy, don't tell me…"

"Well you've got company coming over and I need to get back to the playground."

"What?" Spike asked.

Anne paused. She'd told Spike about Danny, that she was married. She hadn't mentioned Liam…and she wasn't going to bring it up now. "Oh, I'm supposed to be watching a friend's kid," she lied.

"Right. Well, I'll go to Willie' tonight, stop by later, tell you what I found."

Oh, no. Anne couldn't risk that. "Why don't I just find you tomorrow?" she asked.

Spike nodded. "Guess that would be weird to explain to Mr. The Vampire Slayer."

"Yeah, especially the whole slayer part."

"Wait. You're tellin' me that you're married to a man who has no idea who you are?" Spike asked with a sarcastic laugh. "God, you must be bored to _tears_!"

Anne wasn't going to dignify this with a response. "Good bye, Spike," she said before walking back out of the crypt and into the sunlight, where he was sure not to follow.

***

Later that night, Anne was scooping spaghetti onto a plate for Liam, who was giving her a play-by-play of his soccer game. "And then I faked to the left, and they totally fell for it, so then I went right and made the goal. Gooooooooooooadl!" Liam shouted, raising his fists in the air.

Laughing, Anne planted a kiss on the top of his head, putting his pasta in front of him. "Who taught you that?"

"Dad," Liam said matter-of-factly.

"Remind me to thank him for that," she muttered.

"Where is Dad?"

"He called and said he had to work late," Anne told him. Liam made a rude noise to show his disapproval and Anne gave him a knowing look. "Not at the table, mister."

After dinner, she put she and Liam's plates in the dishwasher. "_Deal or No Deal_ in ten minutes, go get into PJs," she urged him.

Liam dashed up the stairs and Anne dug around in the freezer for her pint of Ben & Jerry's. It had occurred to her that she should have patrolled by the high school tonight, but Spike was down at Willie's. She wouldn't be doing anything that he wasn't doing there. And besides, this wasn't her problem anymore. No, nowadays Anne preferred to live in blissful ignorance along with the rest of the world. This was more out of necessity than choice. She wasn't sixteen anymore. Anne didn't know how Faith still did it. Or even Giles, for that matter, who she'd always strong suspected resented the fact that so much of his job involved teenaged girls.

The doorbell ran and, before Anne could put the lid back on her ice cream, Liam yelled, "I'll get it!" and was at the door in seconds. By the time Anne reached the front hallway she was too late. Spike was frowning, confused, down at Liam, and Liam was staring back up at him, open-mouthed, wide-eyed, in awe.


	8. Chapter 8

"Spike," Anne snapped.

Neither of the boys looked up.

"I've seen you before," Liam said slowly.

"I don't think so, mate," Spike answered. He turned to Buffy. "You have a kid?"

Anne could see the wheels starting to turn in Spike's brain. "Yeah, I told you that," she lied.

"No, you didn't. I probably would have remembered that," Spike told her.

"I have so!" Liam shouted.

The anger in his voice shocked Anne and she blinked before suggesting, "Liam, why don't you go put on the TV, it's starting." Liam glared at her before complying. Anne waited until she could hear the theme music to _Deal or No Deal_ playing in the background before turning to Spike.

"You named him Liam," Spike noted, "after…"

"Angel, yeah," Anne finished for him.

"How old is he?"

"Seven," she answered, but her voice cracked on the second syllable.

Spike seemed convinced. "Right. Well listen, I went to Willie's tonight, found out some pretty interesting stuff."

Anne turned around and headed into the kitchen. It wasn't until she turned around that she'd realized she was alone. Heading back into the front hall she found Liam staring up at Spike again. "Do you live here?" Liam was asking.

"No, he doesn't," Anne answered.

Liam turned to her. "Who is he?"

All of the knowledge in the world couldn't begin to help Anne answer this question. "This is Mommy's friend…um…William."

Liam grinned and turned to Spike. "William's my middle name!" he said proudly.

"Right. His dad wanted it," Anne answered quickly. "Li, we have to talk privately."

"About what?" Liam inquired.

Anne leaned down and gave him a kiss on the forehead. "If we could tell you, it wouldn't be private," she reminded him. Liam reluctantly agreed before heading back into the living room. Anne turned back to Spike. "Sorry, I forgot to invite you in. So… come in."

Spike stepped in to the house and looked around for a few minutes. Anne led him into the kitchen and watched as Spike looked over the pictures stuck on the fridge along with shopping and to-do lists and aced tests of Liam's. "Look at Dawn, all grown up Little Bit," he pointed out, gesturing to a picture of her graduating college.

"Yeah. Everyone's older. Well…except for you." Anne was suddenly self-conscious of whether or not she'd developed wrinkles, or crow's feet around her eyes.

Spike gave her a once over that made her feel naked. He'd always been so good at those. "You look the same to me."

Anne felt uncomfortable for a split second before speaking up again. "So. Interesting happenings at Willie's?"

"Right. Looks like the Hellmouth's not all as closed up as we thought."

"What?" Anne blinked.

Spike gave her his full attention. "Turns out, Hellmouths are kind of like volcanoes. Just because one's been quiet for a couple of decades doesn't mean it's dead." Wearing that familiar seductive smirk, he moved closer to Buffy. "Just because it's not erupting doesn't mean it's not all hot underneath."

Anne jerked her hand away before Spike could feel just how hot her underneath was. "So…what? So you're saying that the Hellmouth is…reactivating?"

"Active, and ready to erupt," Spike told her.

Anne paused for a second. "No. No, no, no."

"Buffy."

"No."

"Buffy – "

"I have a child, pike, and for God's sake, no one calls me that anymore." She hadn't raised her voice, but Spike knew the tone in her voice well enough to know that she was serious. From the living room they could hear the sounds of someone on the verge of being a millionaire coming from the TV. "This is not my problem anymore," she said quietly.

"So what, you're just going to ignore it? Pretending that nothing's wrong doesn't mean that nothing's wrong," Spike insisted.

"I'm not saying nothing's wrong. Something might be very, very wrong. But it's not my job to make it right."

"You're just going to watch the world be sucked into Hell?"

"Somebody else will fix it."

"Who, Buffy? If we wanna stop this thing, we've gotta start now. Not gonna point any fingers but if somebody hadn't retired to play soccer-mom for seven years, this might not be so urgent."

"What was I supposed to do? Just not have a life? Don't judge me Spike, you weren't here, you have no idea what it's been like."

Spike nodded before agreeing quietly. "You're right, I wasn't here. But I am now. I know what's happening now, Buffy, and we can't ignore it. Even if you wanted to, you won't let yourself, I know that for sure."

Anne took a deep breath. This, whatever it was, was coming, whether she wanted it to or not. The sooner she could get rid of it, the better, and that would require her help. "I should get on the phone, call Giles, get everyone back here. We're gonna need all the help we can get."

"Do you want me to – "

"No, Spike. I'll do it. I'll tell them about you when they get here. Right now it would just be…"

"Too much," Spike finished for her.

"Yeah."

"Why are you calling him Spike?" Liam asked.

Anne blinked up to see Liam standing in the doorway. "Liam, what are you doing in here?"

"Commercial," he explained, before looking back at Spike. "Do you always look like that?"

Remembering the sketches she found, Anne held her breath. "As opposed to looking like what?" Spike asked defensively.

"Liam, William has to go now. Can we interrogate him later?"

"Is he coming back?" Liam asked.

Anne looked up to see both Spike and Liam giving her questioning looks. She swallowed, hard, as the two pairs of blue eyes stared at her. Their skin looked like skim milk. Their eyebrows furrowed. The shape of their face… Oh, this was not good. "Yeah, Liam, of course."

"Cool! Wanna watch TV with me?" he asked Spike.

"Wish I could, mate, but like your mum said, I should get a move on," he said. At Liam's disappointed look, Spike added, "But I'll be back soon, and then we can watch all the _Teletubbies_ you like."

Liam twisted up his face. "_Teletubbies_?"

Spike turned to Anne. "Are they not watching _Teletubbies_ now?"

Anne tried not to smile unsuccessfully. "I'll let you know when everyone else gets here," she told him.

"Sure. Later, then. See ya, Little Bit," he said good-bye to Liam. Anne's heart tugged as Liam gave Spike a high-five before running back to the couch.

"Spike, I – " _What? I what?_ Anne thought. _I've been dreaming about you every night? I wanted to tell you that I really did love you? I have something to tell you that will change your life and might make you hate me forever?_ "I'm glad you came back. For this."

He gave her a tight-lipped nod before leaving the house. Anne slowly made her way to the phone and dialed the familiar number. "Hey. It's me. I think I need your help."


	9. Chapter 9

Anne woke up on Saturday morning and kept her eyes shut. She just wanted to take a minute to lay there, relaxed, subdued, before the enormity of what was about to go down hit her. "You awake?" Danny asked.

With a groan, Anne responded, "Yes. But can we pretend I'm not?"

Danny chuckled. "Sure." He pulled her closer into him, kissing her forehead. "It's quiet."

"It is."

"We don't have anywhere to be."

"Not for a few hours, anyway."

Grinning, Danny suggested, "I think I could come up with a few ways to pass the time."

Anne looked up and kissed Danny. That would be nice, just the two of them for the next couple of –

"Mom! Dad!" Liam burst into their room.

Danny let out a groan and then laughed as Liam jumped onto their bed with ease. "Hey buddy."

"Aunt Dawn's coming today! Aunt Dawn's coming today!" Liam shouted, jumping up and down.

"Yeah, and so are Mom's friends," Danny reminded him.

"Oh yeah. Are they nice?"

"Of course they're nice," Anne answered.

"Have you ever met them?" Liam asked Danny.

"Nope. Mom's too ashamed of me to introduce us," Danny told him. "So if we don't like them, we can hang out with each other and say mean things about them."

Anne rolled her eyes good-naturedly and got out of bed. "They're nice, of course you'll like them."

Liam frowned. "But they have funny names," he pointed out.

"That's for real," Danny muttered, tickling Liam's ribs. "What are they named again, Annie?"

As Anne pulled her hair up, she smiled, thinking about the Scoobies. "Well, there's Giles."

"I know him. He sends me twenty bucks on my birthday every year," Liam interjected.

"Right," Anne nodded. "And Xander, and Willow, and Faith." She swallowed, thinking about the names left off that list, how many people they'd lost…

"And Spike."

Anne dropped her brush. "What? Who?"

"Spike. He's coming back, too, right?"

"Spike?" Danny asked sarcastically. "You had a friend in high school named Spike?"

"In high school, no. Spike was more of a college friend," Anne corrected them. "But yes, he'll be here, too." She'd concocted a lie about a reunion for Danny and thankfully Liam hadn't mentioned Spike, until now anyway, and Danny wasn't asking too many questions. She'd even encouraged him to spend most of the day at his sister's, telling him that it would be easier than throwing the whole gang at him at once. But the truth was that Anne knew she couldn't keep this up forever. All of her old friends would be back, and they'd be calling her Buffy. They'd be doing research, talking about all the things they used to. Danny would catch on. The hard part was going to be convincing him that she wasn't insane…and keeping it all away from Liam.

They are breakfast and Danny was helping Liam with some homework before Anne jumped in the shower. It wasn't until she was shampooing that she started to get nervous. Anne had changed, a lot. What if they'd all changed, too? So much that they didn't know how all of this worked anymore? What if they were all too out of practice to pull this off? The moment that Anne really feared, however, was the part that she knew would come. At some point, they would all be in the same room, along with all of the weights and thoughts and heavy spirits of the people they'd lost. That was what had spread them apart to begin with.

"Okay Liam, let's go," Anne said after blowing her hair dry and trying in vain to cover any signs that she wasn't twenty-one years old anymore.

Danny followed them out to the car and gave her a squeeze on the shoulder. "Hey. You nervous?"

"Nah, I'll be fine," Anne said, and even managed to believe it for a whole second. "Unless they don't recognize me. What if they don't recognize me? What if they don't like me anymore?" she panicked.

Danny laughed. "I really don't think that you have to worry about that," he assured her.

"Eh. Okay. I'll see you later." Anne gave him a peck on the mouth before strapping Liam into his car seat and pulling out of the driveway.

Dawn was coming in first, with Willow's flight arriving shortly thereafter. Xander was driving in from up north after Anne picked up Willow, and Giles wouldn't be there until later that night. Faith was driving from Boston with some friends on a road trip and didn't give Anne a specific time. Anne's stomach was starting to clench up as she parked at the airport parking lot. This would be the first time since he was an infant that any of them would be meeting Liam. And how was she supposed to tell them about Spike? There were still a few flaws in the plan…

Anne blew out a breath as she pulled into the huge airport garage. It was too late to go back now, she'd reached the point of no return. But…she wasn't going back at all, was she? "Okay buddy, put your coat on."

"But it's not _cold_ out," Liam whined.

"Liam, put it on. You're the one who's gonna be sorry if you don't," she reminded him.

Liam glared at her for a resentful moment before putting his winter coat on.

"And your hat," Anne insisted.

Liam didn't protest anymore as he pulled his black ski cap on over his head and face. He looked like an eight-year-old bank robber.

"Alright, come on." Anne helped Liam out of the car and they headed from the parking lot to the sliding doors of the terminal.

"Mom," Liam whined after they'd taken a few paces. "I'm _hot_."

Anne's heart gave a squeeze. "I know, baby. I'm sorry. Come on, we'll hurry," she advised, taking his hand in hers. She started walking faster, causing Liam to jog.

"My hand!" he screeched as they crossed over into the hade of the terminal.

Anne looked down to see that dark red blotched had appeared on Liam's skin. She covered his small palm with both of hers before pulling off his hat. "I know it hurts, I'm sorry." Anne waited for Liam's forgiveness as he used his free hand to take off his coat.

"Everyone was looking," Liam muttered.

"Nobody was looking," Anne assured him. "Come on, I'll buy you something sugary while we wait for Aunt Dawn." Liam gave her a smile and Anne's heart untangled as they stepped into the over air-conditioned airport.

A few minutes later, Anne and Liam were waiting in the arrivals gate, Liam with a huge cone of Ben and Jerry's. "That's a small?" Anne asked.

"Yup!" Liam grinned.

"But it's huge!"

"Yup!"

"Can I have some?"

"No, Mom."

"What? Why no?"

"Too much sugar. You might get hyper."

"You tell her, Liam. Stick it to the man."

Liam's eyes widened and eh jumped out of his seat. "Aunt Dawn!"

Dawn laughed, hugging him and trying to avoid the ice cream. "Hey munchkin. How's it hangin'?"

"How's it hanging?" Anne repeated, standing up.

Dawn smiled up at her before standing and hugging her. "What, you don't like my Berkeley slang?"

Anne hugged her younger sister, combing her fingers through her long brown hair. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too," Dawn told Anne. But Anne couldn't help but feel like Dawn was…taking pity on her.

She pulled out of the hug. "Willow'll be here soon, but she's at a different terminal," she told Dawn.

"Well, the walk over there will give me time to give Liam his presents," Dawn smiled, squeezing Liam's shoulders.

"Presents!" Liam rejoiced.

Dawn rummaged through her carry-on bad and pulled out a quartz necklace. "This is a strong that will give you special powers."

"Cool!"

"You'll have more energy, and get, like, super smart."

"I'm already super smart."

"Well, obviously." Dawn reached into her bad again and pulled out a small jar. "And _these_ are frog's eyes."

"Gross!" Anne wrinkled her nose.

"Aw, sweet!"

They kept walking through the terminals until they reached the one where the British Airways flights were coming in. Dawn was explaining the benefits to using real frogs eyes as opposed to the cheaper newts or salamanders as Buffy's stomach started to twist. Dawn was her sister, she could handle Dawn. But Willow…especially Willow and Xander would be so hard. What if they were still mad, or worse, grieving? What if none of them were over it enough to –

"Buffy?" Slowly, she turned around and stood there for a second. Goosebumps rose on her skin and she held her breath for what felt like several minutes before Willow opened her arms for a hug. "Oh my God, come here."

Buffy squeezed Willow back in the hug, holding on tight. "Will," was all she could choke out through the impending tears.

"It's so good to be home," Willow sighed as they pulled away. "And you look exactly the same."

"Really? So I had the crow's feet in high school, too?" Buffy asked.

"Oh, Buffy, don't be ridiculous." Looking down, Willow smiled, "And is this the little guy?"

"Mom, why is she calling you Buffy?" Liam asked, blinking up at them.

"Because that's Mommy's first name. Liam, this is Willow," she said. He quickly sidestepped to hide behind Buffy's legs. "Liam, since when are you shy?" she asked. He peered out from behind her thigh. Willow smiled at him and gave him a tiny wave, in her most charming, Willow-like fashion.

Tentatively, Liam stepped out from behind Buffy's legs. "You live in England?" he asked.

"Sure do," Willow nodded.

"Do you like soccer?"

"Of course! Who's your favorite club?" she asked, squatting down to his height.

Liam looked at Buffy. She nodded and he told Willow, "I like…Manchester United."

"Manchester United! Of course! They're my favorite, too," Willow insisted.

Anne told them that the car was parked kind of far away. "Could you guys watch Liam while I pull it around?" she asked. "Just so we all don't have to walk all the way back."

Dawn cleared her throat. "Sure. No problem."

By the time Anne pulled the Range Rover to the curb, Willow was draping a Manchester United scarf around Liam's neck. Dawn smiled at Anne as she got in the passenger seat and Willow and Liam started a resounding chorus of, "Ole! Ole, ole, ole!"


	10. Chapter 10

"Woah, Buff. Nice crib," Willow blew out as they approached the house.

"Crib?" Dawn asked. "Since when are you Dr. Dre?"

Willow shrugged and nodded. "Well, I'm just sayin'. You've kinda got a mansion over here. I didn't even know there were houses this big in Sunnydale."

Anne winced. "Would you totally judge me if I said that the Chases used to live four houses away?"

"Yup," Willow nodded cheerily. They got out of the car and headed inside. "So where's this husband of yours?" she asked. "I still can't believe you're married. And Xander! I didn't think he'd ever, not after what happened with Anya."

"Danny's visiting with his family today. I thought it might be easier for him, before he got thrown into all of mine." While Anne explained this, Dawn had walked in to the kitchen and then the living room. "You redecorated? Again?"

Anne shrugged defensively. "I got bored. Hey Dawny, can you show Willow where the guest room is? I'll order pizza for lunch."

"Yes!" Liam cheered, following Anne into the kitchen. Anne got out the phone book and was flipping through the yellow pages when she gave Liam a tentative look…which of course, he noticed. "What?"

"So, Willow's fun, right?" she asked him.

"Yeah. Plus, she gave me this," Liam pointed out, tugging at his Manchester United scarf. "When's Spike coming? I like Spike, he said he'd come back."

Anne had taken the phone off it's cradle, but she but it back down with more force than she'd intended. "Um…listen, Liam. About Spike..."

"Why's his name Spike?" Liam interjected.

And this was exactly what Anne had been trying to avoid. The reason that Spike had picked up that nickname had been due to his tendency to torture his victims with railroad spikes. And this was something that she was supposed to tell her eight-year-old son. "It's just a nickname," Anne answered vaguely. "Anyway, listen Liam. Aunt Dawn and Aunt Willow, and a lot of the others who you're gonna meet me in the next few days …they don't really like Spike."

"Why not?"

_Because he tried to kill us on several occasions. _"They just…don't like his hair."

"I like his hair. I think he's cool. Don't you like Spike?"

"Of course. But maybe Spike can be our little secret, okay?"

"Cool," Liam concluded.

"Okay, good." Anne ordered a couple of pizzas before Willow and Dawn came back down the stairs.

"Do you have the third edition of the Sumerian text though?" Willow was asking Dawn. "The translation is a little better, so the spells are much more efficient."

"Nice. I'll check it out."

"Spells?"

"Guys," Anne reprimanded. "Ix-nay on the ells-pay."

"Got it," Dawn nodded.

"The doorbell rang and Anne frowned. "That can't be the pizza already," she said out loud, going to open the door. Before she could recognize the person, they had thrown their arms around her, practically jumped her.

"B," Faith sighed, giving Anne a tight squeeze.

Anne blinked, feeling rigid for a second before giving in and embracing Faith. She felt bad, that her initial reaction was still to back away. But it wasn't like Faith hadn't given her good reason. Even if she had, that was all done now. Faith had redeemed herself, as far as she was concerned, and now she just wanted to get back to normal. This thought startled Anne. She was actually looking forward to patrolling with Faith. That hadn't even happened back when she and Faith were friends.

They pulled away and Faith gave Anne a playful punch on the shoulder. "Hey, check out what I picked up in the driveway."

Faith stepped out of the way, exposing Xander. His hands were in his front pockets, his shoulders hunched, and for a second he looked like a fifteen-year-old boy, about to ask her on a date. "Hey," Anne greeted him, holding her arms out.

Xander hugged her back, and Anne knew he was relieved that she wasn't angry at him in any way. "Hey Buff. Long time, no…anything." When they broke away, Xander asked, "Where's the little monster?"

Motioning for them to come inside, Anne told him, "He's in here, but he's not so little anymore."

"I'm eight!" Liam volunteered.

"Woah, that's the kid?" Faith asked. "Would it kill him to get a tan?"

"I'm allergic to the sun," Liam glared at her.

"It's a vitamin D deficiency," Anne offered.

Faith gave Xander a look that asked, "Does anyone actually believe that?" Xander met her gaze for a moment, as if to say, "Yes, so drop it," before looking away. Buffy felt her stomach pull and wrench.

"Oh my God, Xander Harris get over here right now," Dawn demanded, coming down the stairs.

Xander looked up, blinking. "Oh my God, Dawn. I wouldn't even have recognized you. You're like…an adult."

"I know, right?" Dawn smiled.

Xander hugged her, picking her up off the bottom stair and planting her back down on the carpet in a ballroom dip. Dawn giggled as Xander stood her back upright. "Okay, let's stop now before we all start breaking out into song."

"Huh?" Faith asked.

"Well, it started out innocently enough," Xander offered.

"Hey guys?" They looked at Buffy. "Can we not talk about this in front of Liam."

"Talk about what?" Liam asked.

"Christ, B, the kid doesn't even know?" Faith asked.

Buffy crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Faith. She held her hand up in defense. "No judgment. I mean, I wouldn't know how to raise a kid, either."

"And lets hope you never have to find out," Xander joked.

"Hey, I might be…twenty-six, but I can still kick your ass," Faith warned, getting ready to punch Xander.

"Oh, so that's what we're playing? Twenty-six?"

"Alright, that's it," Faith said, and Xander screamed like a girl, trying to deflect his face from Faith's punches. Buffy knew that she was only trying half-heartedly. If she was going full force, Xander would at least have a broken nose by now…or worse.

"Guys, can we not?" Buffy asked, gesturing to Liam.

"Hello?" somebody called though the house.

Faith gave Buffy an annoyed look. "B, did ya have to invite the geek squad?" she asked as Andrew joined them in the hallway.

"Uncle Andrew!" Liam exclaimed, grabbing Andrew's hands. Anne figured he was probably glad to see a familiar face.

"Uncle Andrew, Buff? Really?" Xander asked, obviously pained.

Andrew picked Liam up and pretended to drop him a couple times. "I'm Liam's favorite," he casually bragged.

"Yeah! He gave me all my _Star Wars_ toys," Liam confirmed.

"I bet he did," Xander said through a tight-lipped smile.

"Hey Andrew."

"Hey Willow."

The six of them quieted down as Xander looked up at Willow, who was at the top of the stairs. He paused for a second before bounding up the staircase, two at a time. "Don't even _think_ about making a joke right now," Willow warned as Xander wrapped her in a bear hug.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he assured her.

Buffy felt her heart well, almost to the point of bursting. Everybody she loved would be in the same place soon. With the Scooby Gang all back together, it was easy to believe that, really, everything was going to be okay.


	11. Chapter 11

"And B, do you remember that Kakistos guy? Ugh. What an ugly dude, right?" Faith asked.

"No joke, he had _hooves_," Buffy told the rest of the gang.

"My favorite story is when Faith hit on Spike,' Xander laughed. "The guy had _no_ idea!" Dawn and Willow resolved into giggled and even Buffy had to smile.

"Oh please, he was hot for the Buffster even back then. I'm just the only one who caught onto it," Faith rolled her eyes. The laughter quieted down and Faith looked at Buffy. "Um…listen, about Spike…"

Buffy reached out and covered Faith's hand with her own. "I know. We all miss him," Buffy said. She knew that Faith was about to tell her that Spike was alive, and she also knew that a slayer-to-slayer bone was very thick. Faith got the message and stopped before Xander spoke up again.

"Speak for yourself. Personally, I'm glad we don't have to deal with His Soul-iness this time around," he offered.

Andrew gave a wistful sight, like a teenage girl in love. "Spike was the coolest."

The others all groaned. "And with that, it's getting late," Anne pointed out. "You need me to drive you back to the hotel?" she asked Faith. She nodded and Dawn and Willow agreed to watch Liam, who had gone to bed. Everybody said good-night before Faith and Buffy got into the Range Rover and headed over to the hotel, Xander following behind them. They were silent for a few minutes before Faith finally spoke up.

"So you know then? That Spike's…alive…kind of."

Buffy nodded. "Yeah. I…saw him. He's here."

"Damn," Faith shook her head. "That's heavy."

"Yeah, I know. I'm just not sure it's a good idea for everyone else to know yet. I mean, it's not like any of them were his biggest fan," Buffy pointed out.

"Please, B. This isn't parent-teacher night," Faith scoffed. "You don't have to give me a bull answer."

"It's true!" Buffy insisted. Smirking at the flat stare Faith was giving her, she admitted, "And maybe I just want a little time."

Faith frowned. "Time to what?" Her frown slowly turned into a grin when Buffy didn't answer. "Oh. I get it."

"No, no, not…not that," Buffy squirmed. "It's just…I mean, Spike and I…it was like there were so many…and then he died…I guess I just want some time to catch up with him first.

Faith shrugged. "Whatever. I don't get you, B."

"Don't get what?" Buffy asked, pulling into the hotel parking lot.

"I mean, how many times was Spike there for you? And he was the _only_ one. He literally _died_ for you, B. And you can deny it all you want, but I _know_ you loved him back. Otherwise, why'd you stop screwin' him?

"I can't tell you how much I've missed your straightforwardness," Buffy noted.

"I'm serious. You couldn't bone anymore because he got his soul back."

"Faith…"

"And now he's back. The second greatest romantic relationship of your life is here, so…what's up?"

"What do you mean?" Buffy asked.

Faith shrugged again. "Just saying, if it were me, I'd be running into his arms with the choir of angels singing and everything. So what gives?"

"Well, for starters, I'm married."

"Please B, it's 2009. You're not trendy if you've only been married once."

"It's not that easy."

Faith was quiet before she gave Buffy a calm look and a squeeze on the shoulder. "Still same old Buffy, making it hard for yourself." Before Buffy could rebut, Faith leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "But I love ya. It's good to be back," she said, wrapping her in another hug.

"It's good to have you back," Buffy answered, hugging Faith again. "I'll see you tomorrow," she called as Faith headed back into the hotel.

When she got back home, Dawn and Willow were reading cards at the table. "Anything interesting?" she asked.

"Giles just called. He said he'd be here soon. His flight got delayed, apparently due to 'bloody Cleveland'," Dawn offered.

"Oh. Good. But I meant, you know, in the cards."

Willow and Dawn looked at each other before looking up at Buffy. Willow spoke up. "Well there's no question about eveil being here. I felt it as soon as I got off the plane, but I thought it was just…you know, residual Hellmouth. Looking at the cards, though…something's coming, Buffy. Something bad." She glanced down at the cards again, frowning. "But there's something else here. Something…unexpected."

"Good unexpected, or bad unexpected…like, a surprised?" Buffy asked hopefully.

"It doesn't say," Willow shook her head. "Just something we can't see."

"Well when will we see it?" Dawn asked,

She shook her head again. "Just…when it's ready to be seen."

Dawn nodded slowly. "Well I'm kinda wiped. Think I'm gonna hit the sack."

"Me, too," Willow agreed. Before going upstairs, she gave Buffy another hug. "It's good to be home."

***

_Early one morning, just as the sun was rising, I heard a maiden sing in the valley below…_

_Buffy looked around the old house, in the living room where her mother was sitting on the couch. "Buffy? Did you just get home?"_

_"Mom?" Buffy asked._

_"Oh, look, pancakes."_

_Buffy turned around to where Tara was holding two different plates of pancakes. "Round or funny shapes?"_

_"What? I'm not hungry," Buffy responded, still confused._

_"Buffy," Joyce said, placing a hand on her shoulder, "you really should eat breakfast, it's the most important meal of the day."_

_Buffy blinked at the hand on her shoulder. If Joyce was touching her, it meant that she wasn't the First… Shaking her head she turned back to Tara. "Tara, how did you – "  
"Can't you tell?" Anya asked, picking up a pancake and taking a bite out of it. "It's quite simple, really. Mm. Good pancakes," she smiled at Tara._

_"Hey."_

_The air stood still around Buffy's body. Her breath left her lungs. She would recognize that voice anywhere. "Angel," she breathed out, turning around. It was the same feeling she got whenever she saw him – a split second of relief, of comfort, followed by the familiar feeling of her heart slowly ripping into pieces. It took her a few moments before she realized that there was a ray of sun flooding through the window and onto him. "Angel, the sun."_

_"I'm alright. Let me show you something." Buffy nodded and he led her up the steps. There were so many, more than she remembered, so many that she couldn't see the top. "Are you gonna tell him?"_

_"Tell who?"_

_"Tell him. About the boy."_

_Buffy paused. "I named him after you."_

_"I know. Are you going to tell him?"_

_"Angel…"_

_"Tell him."_

_They'd reached the top of the stairs, and were outside of the high school. "Angel, I can't go back in there."_

_"Yes you can. They're waiting for you."_

_"But I want to stay here, with you," she whispered._

_Angel ran his fingers through her hair. "When will you understand, Buffy? You'll always be my girl. But he's here. And I'm not. I just want you to be happy."_

_"Angel…"_

_"Angel? Are you coming back down?" Buffy looked down the staircase where Cordelia was standing. "Oh, hey Buffy!" she smiled with a wave._

_"Is he coming?" Miss Calendar asked Cordelia. Cordelia shrugged and motioned up to Buffy._

_Wesley joined them and looked up to where Cordelia was gesturing. "Is she going to tell him?" he asked Angel._

_"Angel, I can't. I don't want to."_

_Angel brushed her bangs off of her forehead and smiled. "It's too late."_

_Suddenly, she was in the library, the old library. "I'll take you to him," Oz offered._

_"Oz? But you're not…"_

_"I know. But I can take you to him."_

_"Oh. Okay. Thanks," Buffy slowly agreed._

_They were walking down the hall, from the library to…well, Buffy wasn't sure. Oz started whistling "Early One Morning." The sounds of his whistles bounced off the halls, back into their ears, a shrill reminder that they were actually all alone here. "Here. They're waiting for you."_

_When he opened the doors, Buffy was blinded by the bright, white sun from outside. She squinted, waiting for her eyes to adjust. She could hear Liam laughing before she could see him. Spike, lying on his back on the grass, picked him up, lifting Liam over himself. He tossed him around a few times before turning to Buffy. "Are you coming?" he asked._

_"Yeah, Mom. Are you coming? He's waiting for you."_

_"Who is?" Buffy asked, not stepping out into the light._

_"Can't you feel it?" Spike asked._

_There was a sound…a high-pitched wail. _

_"He's waiting for you, can't you hear him?" Spike asked, getting angry. "Help him. I can't, not alone. You need to help. You can't do this to me again."_

_"What? Spike? No, I…I won't." Buffy lifted her leg, placed her foot in front of the other…_

_She took a step into Liam's old bedroom, the nursery he'd been in as an infant. And Liam was there, just a baby, in his crib. She stood over him as he rolled onto his back and blinked his blue eyes up to her. For a split second, he smiled, showing off his toothless grin with a giggle. But then, without warning, he let out a furious screech. Hi face scrunched up, and his tiny little body entirely turned red. His little hand clenched into fists and he let out another scream from the back of his throat. Buffy stared down at him as he reached up to her. How was she supposed to do this? She felt so…lost…_

_"Early one morning, just as the sun was rising, I heard a maiden singing. Oh don't deceive me, oh never leave me. How could you use a poor maiden so?" Spike wrapped one arm around her shoulders and reached down with the other, caressing Liam's cheek in one of his palms. The baby quieted and looked up at his parents. His eyes were so big, and curious. "See? Everything's alright," Spike assured the two of them._

_"Spike, no, this can't last."_

_"Why not?" he asked her._

_"That baby…" she started, looking back at it. "Spike, I don't – "_

_"Don't what?" Spike asked, frowning at her. His face changed, his fangs bared. The baby started screaming again. Buffy reached into the crib to pick him up, but he was so far way, too far…She reached over the sides, tumbling in head first._

_Oh, don't deceive me, oh, never leave me. How could you use a poor maiden so?_


	12. Chapter 12

"Buffy. Buffy sweetheart, wake up."

Buffy's eyes blinked open and she felt too relieved to be confused. "When did you get here?" she asked, wrapping her arms around Giles' shoulders.

"Just a moment ago. The others have gone to bed, I presume?"

Buffy nodded. "Danny came home earlier. He wanted to say hi, but I told him that I didn't know when you'd get here."

"That's quite alright, it's very late," Giles pointed out.

"Mr. Giles?" Liam asked.

Buffy looked up at the top of the stairs to where Liam was standing. In a second, Liam flew down the stairs and wrapped his arms around Giles' waist. Liam had only met Giles once, when he was two. This reaction hadn't been wholly expected. "Thanks for the money," Liam said.

Giles nodded. "Ah. You're welcome." He turned to Buffy. "Are you sure he never met Anya?"

Buffy got up off the couch and leaned into Giles' free arm for a hug. "Let's not move," she suggested. "Let's just stay here, all three of us."

"As nice as that would be, its not very realistic, I'm afraid."

"Are you sure?" Buffy asked.

The three of them came unglues and she frowned down at Liam. "What are you doing out of bed?"

Liam shrugged. "I just had a dream."

"Nightmare?" Buffy asked, her brain instantly flashing back to the sketches she'd found.

"Nope."

"What was it about?" she asked. Giles gave her a questioning look and Buffy realized that she sounded like she was interrogating her eight-year-old son. She relaxed and waited for Liam to answer the question.

"It's a secret," Liam answered with a wink.

Buffy nodded slowly. "Oh. Got it." She ignored the curious look Giles was giving her. "Did you want something, Li?"

"Can I have some water?

"Sure."

"Where's Dad?"

"Upstairs, asleep."

"Can I wake him up?"

"No, Liam. You're going back to bed."

"But I'm not tired," he whined.

"Liam, we are not having this conversation again. Nighttime is bedtime." Buffy handed him a glass of water and he scowled at her before going back up to bed. Buffy turned to Giles. "He _refuses_ to go to bed. I mean, I know it's normal and everything, but it's seriously a problem."

"Buffy, there's something – "

"Right now we're trying this, no-sugar diet, but I don't think it's working."

"Buffy…"

"Maybe it's insomnia. Oh my God, what if I have an eight-year-old insomniac?"

"Hey Giles, what'd you pack, cinder blocks?"

Buffy frowned before slowly turning to where it looked like a a pair of legs was carrying a pile of suitcases. Giles rushed over to it and hauled off the top suitcase. "Training equipment," he answered.

"Well…how'd you get that stuff through airport security?" the voice behind the suitcases asked.

Slightly annoyed (Buffy could tell by his tone), Giles answered, "A spell." He turned back to Buffy. "Buffy, this is Delilah. Delilah, Buff – "

He was cut off as Delilah let out a, "Woah!" and toppled to the floor. One of the suitcases popped open and crossbows, axes, stakes, and bottles of Holy water came spilling out with a series of loud bangs and crashes. In an instant, Dawn, Willow, and Liam were downstairs, the first two looking for an attacker.

"What was that? What's in here?" Dawn demanded.

"I can do a spell that – " Willow started.

"Calm down. Our assailant has already been taken out by a big bad suitcase," Buffy told them. She offered a hand to Delilah, who was splayed out on the floor under a pile of weaponry.

"Thanks," Delilah said, taking her hand and standing. "I'm usually not that clumsy."

Buffy gave her a once over, which took a while since Delilah was about 6'3". She had long blonde hair that was wavy and looked like she'd had a professional do it. Buffy thought that Delilah would fit in much more standing next to Gisele than she did here.

"What are all these for?" Liam asked, reaching for a bottle of Holy water.

"Liam, no," Buffy snapped, grabbing for it herself. The awkward hush of a pink elephant in the room settles over them. "Go back to bed."

From upstairs Buffy heard a door opened and the floorboards creaking under somebody's weight. "Anne? Liam?" Danny called from the top of the stairs. "Are you guys okay? I heard a crashing sound," he explained coming down the stairs. "Which was apparently the sound of medieval weaponry."

"Right. Well…that's just…Giles' collection. He's a real medieval buff," Buffy explained.

Danny's eyebrows knit together. "And he had to bring his collection here?" he asked.

"Well yeah. For the reunion." Before Danny could ask any more questions, Buffy swooped down and retrieved a cross right as Liam was about to pick it up. Her heart was pounding, legs shaking. She hadn't even thought about that stuff. _Damn it_. "Liam, bed."

"Dad?" Liam asked. Danny nodded and he turned to Giles. "Can we play with this stuff tomorrow?"

Giles looked at Buffy. "Um…I'll talk about it with your mother," he offered. That seemed good enough to Liam, who turned and went back to bed.

Danny looked around at all of them. "Hey Dawny," he greeted her with a hug. "And you must be Willow," he acknowledged with a handshake. "I've heard a lot about you." Willow smiled and Danny turned to Giles. "Mr. Giles, nice to see you again."

"Likewise, Daniel," Giles noted.

Then Danny blinked, startled at Delilah. "And is this another friend from high school?" he asked.

Buffy raised an eyebrow. "No, but she might still be _in_ high school."

Delilah nodded with a smile. "Yup. I'm sixteen. I was gonna have a pretty sweet party, but them _some_body had to be all, 'It's your destiny to be a' – "

"Good student," Buffy interjected. "Yeah. Giles is a real stickler for the books. Because he's a _teacher_."

"You came to California with your teacher? Shouldn't you be in school?" Danny asked.

"Winter break," Delilah shot out. It was either true, or she was way better at lying than Buffy had been when she was sixteen. "And then Giles told me that he was giving this history presentation while he was in town for the reunion. A bunch of the other kids in my class were supposed to come, but they're stuck in Cleveland. Sucks for them. My plan is to get ridiculously tanned and then rub it in their faces." Okay, she was definitely a good actress.

Danny nodded. "Oh," he said, like that was a perfectly normal explanation. "Well it's great to see everybody but I'm gonna go ahead and go back to bed."

"Of course, sweetie," Anne answered, leaning up for a kiss.

"Do you want me to help you clean up?" he asked.

Anne gave him a tight-lipped smile. "You know what, don't worry about it." Danny went upstairs and Buffy waited for the sound of the door closing before turning to Delilah. "And the Oscar goes to…"

Delilah waved a hand. "It's not a big deal. I lie to people all the time."

Willow's eyebrows rose. "Oh, well, that's comforting."

The five of them started gathering the weapons back into the suitcase as Delilah explained herself. "No, I mean, not to people who matter. Just like, my friends and my parents. And only about the whole slaying thing. I mean, what am I supposed to say, 'Hey Ma, I'm a vampire slayer'?"

Buffy paused. "That's pretty much how I did it," she admitted. "Well, actually I staked a vamp right in front of her, and then I was pretty much caught."

Delilah nodded. "Exactly. And she reacted so well. Not really my idea of a good time."

She turned to Giles. "Did you let her read my diary, too, Giles?"

"Oh, he wasn't trying to betray your trust or anything. I was just kind of freaking over whether or not I should tell my parents about why I had to cancel my sweet sixteen, and, as usual, helpful Mr. Giles was all, 'My other slayer did this,' 'Buffy did that,' 'Buffy could actually stake a vamp while doing quantum physics and be home in time for dinner'," Delilah explained. The bitterness in her tone was exaggerated by the force with which she threw a cross into the suitcase. The top slammed shut and the case flew across the room, bouncing off the opposite wall. The others stared and Delilah blushed. "Sorry. I'll go grab that."

Once she'd brought back over the suitcase Giles explained, "Delilah sometimes feels as though I'm comparing her methods to yours."

Delilah snorted. "Only because you _are_."

"Well if it makes you feel any better, Buffy totally sucked her first couple of times out, too," Dawn offered. They'd finished packing the suitcase and Dawn frowned. "Aren't you guys staying at the hotel?" she asked.

Giles nodded. "Well I am, yes, but I thought it better perhaps if Delilah were to stay here, with you, Buffy."

"There's really not any more room," Buffy crossed her arms over her chest. Willow gave her a worried glance and she offered, "I mean, unless you wanted the couch."

"Cool beans," Delilah agreed.

Buffy wanted to roll her eyes, but restrained herself. She was thirty-years-old – jealousy was _not_ becoming on her anymore. "I'll walk you outside," she offered to Giles.

Once they'd closed the door behind them, Giles spoke up. "I'm sorry I didn't mention that I'd be bringing Delilah. I wasn't sure if she would be coming or not. I'm afraid I forgot how hard it is to come up with excuses for unsuspecting parents."

"It's no big," Buffy shrugged. "I'm just glad you're here. You kinda missed the big love-fest, though."

Giles smiled. "I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities for a group hug later." Having over a decade of practice at getting to know one of Buffy's concentrated stares, he asked, "But you're not so sure it will last, are you?"

Buffy shrugged, wrapping her arms around herself. "It's not that. It's just…I mean, Giles, everyone left this place for a reason. There are other people who could be doing this now; girls all over the world. So why is it the same group as always, figuring it all out?"

Giles cleaned his glasses, which usually meant that he was about to say something that Buffy didn't want to hear. "I can't say for certain, Buffy, only that you disrupted the natural order of things. There aren't supposed to be girls all over the world who could be doing this. But there are, because of you. And someone, or more likely some_thing_ out there wants to get its revenge."

"But it's been eight years, Giles. Why now?"

"I suppose the Hellmouth needed some time to gather its strength. But the good news is that, much like the second eruption of a volcano, the second activation of a Hellmouth should be much less severe," Giles informed her.

Buffy nodded slowly. "Right. Just like a volcano."

"Buffy?"

She blinked.

"Is there something else you wanted to talk about?"

"No," she shook her head. "Nope. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Of course," Giles answered, kissing her forehead and getting into his car. Buffy turned and headed back into the house.


	13. Chapter 13

"Hunh! Ugh! Argh! Hiya!"

Buffy clenched her teeth, catching Willow's smirk. "Do you think that Delilah could do her Tae Kwon Dork somewhere else?" she snapped.

Willow perked up. "I hear the high school library is open again for Slayer training sessions."

"Oh. Good then. Why don't we just send her right over to the high school?" Buffy suggested.

Willow snickered as Liam came barreling down the stairs and into the kitchen. "I'm hungry! Why does Xander look like a pirate? Where's Aunt Dawn?"

Buffy laughed. "Well that was a lot of words first thing in the morning."

"Can I do karate with that girl?" he asked.

"Go for it. I'll make you breakfast," Buffy offered, pulling some bacon out of the fridge. Liam scampered into the living room to join Delilah and Buffy started making his breakfast before asking, "So how exactly am I supposed to answer that question?"

"Well, you said that he could go karate with Delilah, which was a good start."

"What? No, not that. I mean about Xander. What am I supposed to say? A priest possessed by the First took it out with his thumb?" Buffy asked this last part in a hushed tone. "Or the other day he asked why Spike's name was Spike."

Willow frowned. "How does he even know about Spike?"

_Shit_. "He must have heard us talking."

Willow seemed satisfied and shrugged. "It's your call, Buff. But…I mean, if this were your most perfectly perfect universe, what would happen?"

Buffy had to think about this for a minute. "In my most perfectly perfect universe, none of this would be happening, and I wouldn't have to explain anything to anyone."

"Well, yeah. But now that it is, that's kinda hard."

"Tell me about it," Buffy sighed.

"Are you making bacon?" Dawn asked from the top of the stairs. "Can you make me some?" As she came down still in her pajamas, she looked over into the living room and entered the kitchen. "Um…Buffy, you might want to be supervising the Little Dude versus the Chosen One in there."

Buffy's heart leapt and her stomach slopped. "What?" she asked frantically, rushing into the living room. Her eyes widened as she saw Liam and Delilah going blow for blow, the exercise DVD still running even though no one was paying attention to it. "Liam!" she snapped.

Liam blocked an attack from Delilah, who slowly turned. "Hey Buffy. We were just putting our new moves to some use."

"You were fighting an eight-year-old," Buffy glared.

"And losing. Guess the Slayer strength is hereditary."

"What's a Slayer?"

Furious, Buffy walked into the living room and yanked down the shades. "Breakfast is ready, Liam," she told him. His head hung, he slowly dragged his feet into the kitchen. Buffy turned to Delilah. "What exactly were you thinking?" she snapped.

Delilah shrugged. "It started out as a game. And then he sorta started kicking my ass."

"Well Delilah, I don't know how they do things in Cleveland, but here in Sunnydale we don't engage in fisticuffs with eight-year-olds, and we _don't_ tell them that there actually _are_ monsters under the bed. And shades stay down until two."

Delilah gave her a questioning look. "What's with the last rule?"

"He has a vitamin D deficiency, which makes him allergic to the sun."

"Like those kids in _The Others_," Delilah pointed out. "Only they turned out to be dead. Which I'm sure Liam's not," she added hastily.

"Well thanks for that. It'll get me to sleep at night." Buffy crossed her arms over her chest and gave Delilah an icy look.

She gave Buffy a tentative, hopefully look. It reminded her of Dawn when she was fifteen and had been caught doing something wrong...which had been often. "Okay so from now on, no more slayer talk around the kid. And I'm sorry about the fighting. I guess I just wasn't thinking."

"Oh believe me, that much was very clear." Buffy left the room before Delilah could rebut.

"Woah there, angry lady. What's going on?" Danny asked, entering the front door. His upper arms were shining with sweat and he smelled like freshly cut grass. Most to all of Buffy's anger dissolved and she tried not to swoon. If somebody had told her eight years ago that she'd be married to a guy who turned her on when he cut the grass, she would have called them crazy. She smiled at him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "You sure you wanna do that? I'm all sweaty," he warned.

"That's exactly _why_ I want to," Buffy told him.

Danny's eyes widened for a split second and he gripped her hips, pulling her closer into him with a hard kiss on the mouth. Just when she thought that Danny was your average run of the mill lawn-mowing husband, he'd do something like that. "How long do you think our house will be occupied?" he asked, peering into the kitchen at Dawn and Willow.

Buffy shrugged. "Sorta too soon to tell. But I'm sure we could arrange – "

"Oof!"

"Woah!"

Buffy stumbled backwards and quickly recovered to find that Danny had stumbled into her, due to the front door opening. "Oh, Danny, sorry man. You know, the whole eye-patch thing," Xander offered, gesturing to his face.

Danny held a hand up. "Sure. No problem."

The moment was pretty much ruined after that and Xander, Faith, and Giles joined the others in the kitchen for breakfast. After that, Danny recruited Liam to help him clean out the shed, and, Liam complaining all the way, they retreated into the backyard. They were all just sitting down in the living room to talk strategy when Andrew joined them, his camcorder attached to his hand. "I thought we vetoed that thing during the last apocalypse," Faith reminded them.

"Buffy, come on! Aren't you glad we have all that footage?" Andrew pointed out.

Buffy waved a hand. "Let him film it. It's pretty much the only thing he's good for," she said to the gang, who all agreed.

Andrew ignored her. "And making his triumphant return to Sunnydale for an encore is Mr. Rupert "Ripper" Giles, former librarian of the Sunnydale High School library and Watcher."

"Yes, hello Andrew," Giles said, obviously annoyed.

"And…this girl," Andrew offered, filming Delilah. "Who the heck is she?" He dropped his arms to his sides, the same way Liam did when he was about to pitch a fit. "Nobody told me there'd be a new girl. I can't be a part of the Scooby Gang if you guys don't tell me stuff like that!" he whined.

"Don't get your tighty-whities in a twist. Me and Faith just met her this morning."

Andrew relaxed. "Oh. Well…good. I'm Andrew, former super villain who has reformed and now fights on the side of good," he proclaimed, puffing his chest out and placing his hands on his hips.

Delilah blinked for a few seconds before breaking out into loud laughter. Buffy couldn't suppress her smirk. "Is this guy for real?" she asked, clutching her stomach.

Andrew looked annoyed and whined, "Guys, tell her!"

"It's true," Willow told Delilah. "He's killed people." Buffy and Xander raised their eyebrows. "Well, really only the one person," she corrected herself.

"Yeah well…you've only killed one person, too," Andrew shot back.

Delilah gave them all a questioning and concerned look. "Okay, who here hasn't killed someone?"

Faith, with a shrug, offered, "Mine was an accident."

"Me and Xander? The only ones? Really?" Dawn asked.

Buffy quipped up, "Well I only killed Angel, and he wasn't human. And it was only to save the world."

"Yeah, using the good old, 'It was to save the world' excuse," Xander accused.

Dawn giggled before looking around. "Um…Buffy, should we be talking about this stuff here?" she added in a whisper. "I mean, Liam and Danny could walk in at any time."

"Dawn's right. We should go somewhere else," she confirmed. "I just don't know where."

"No library, magic shop, or Rovello Drive. Who knew we'd run out of headquarters?" Xander asked.

"Ooh, I've got it! The graveyard," Willow suggested.

Delilah make an unpleasant face. "Are you sure we couldn't just do it at the hotel?"

Buffy nodded. "Oh yeah, sure. And explain to the several people who might overhear that we're not crazy, we're just standing on the gates of Hell. Good idea, Delilah."

Giles gave Buffy a look that only a parent could give and she quieted down. "Perhaps the graveyard would be our safest bet. Spike's old crypt, maybe?" he suggested.

"Who is Spike?" Delilah asked.

"Hey Rookie." Delilah looked over at Faith. "You wanna stop playin' twenty questions and listen for a minute?" She pursed her lips and looked at the floor.

Buffy suppressed her laughter and stood up. "Um…listen, why don't I head over to the graveyard first, check it out, make sure Spike's place hasn't become a nest or anything."

"Quite. We'll follow when you give the word," Giles agreed.

Buffy nodded. "Great. Okay. I'll just…see you there," she said awkwardly before heading into the backyard. "Hey Danny?" she asked, hearing groans and clanks coming from the shed.

"Yeah?" he responded, sounding like he was holding something very heavy. After a loud bang he appeared back in the light, out of the shed. Some sandy blonde hair had fallen into his eyes. Buffy reached up to brush it away and he took her hand. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to let you know that the guys and I are gonna go…hit up some old haunts. Just a little trip down memory lane," she only half-lied.

"You sure you have to go?" he asked. "Maybe they could take Liam and we could…"

Buffy planted a kiss on Danny's cheek. "You know Liam can't go out at this time of day," she reminded him. "But I'll see you later tonight, okay?"

"Sure." She turned around and headed out through the gate. "Hey Anne?"

"Mhm?"

Danny looked back in the shed at Liam and took a few steps closer to her, across the backyard. "Its just…do you think we could schedule in a date some time?" When Danny was working really hard he and Buffy would hire a sitter and go on dates, just to spend some time alone again.

Buffy felt bad turning down his request, but she really didn't see when she'd have the opportunity to go on a date anytime soon. "Um…sure Danny. I don't know when I'll have time, but we'll see."

He smiled at her, flashing all of his perfect, even white teeth. "Great."

Buffy gave him a small wave before shutting the gate and taking off at a sprint towards the graveyard.


	14. Chapter 14

When Buffy got to Spike's crypt, she paused before knocking…but only for a split second. She had a plan, she had to stick to it. Not to mention, not for nothing but this wasn't the first time she'd kept someone in secret. Sad to say, it wasn't even the first times she'd kept a vampire with a soul hidden. God, how weird was that? Buffy peered around the graveyard while she waited and watched as a white SUV drove past. Figuring that it would be an odd situation to have to explain to the other soccer moms, she kicked open the door, and was only half surprised when she found Spike in a recliner in front of _Passions_.

He instantly jumped up and turned around, bracing himself for a fight. "Bloody Hell!" Spike scolded her. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

"I knocked," she explained. "What took you so long to open the door?"

Spike gestured to the old TV that was currently displaying a commercial for KY jelly. "Was watchin' my programs," he explained.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Well as much as I'd hate to tear you away from whatever is happening in Pine Valley," she referenced _All My Children_.

"Hey!" Spike interjected. "I watch _Passions_."

"Fine, whatever. Listen, I need a favor."

He raised his eyebrows and placed his hands on her hips. Oh God…she was afraid this would happen. At the lightest touch of his skin on hers, Buffy's heart jumped. She could feel all of her body start to tingle. And then…everything got hot. All of the air was being sucked out of the room, and it was stifling. It felt like getting into a car that had its windows up in the summertime. Buffy would asphyxiate soon unless she did one of two things. Since the other one was out of the question, she backed away. "Not _that_ kind of favor. Can we please try to remember that I'm married here, Spike?" she snapped.

Spike rolled his eyes, looking like the brat he'd been pre-soul. "Oh, please. Are we gonna play another round of Kick the Spike? _I_ remember that you're married. Might've tried to get so drunk that I'd forget, but that didn't work the way I'd planned." Buffy placed her hands on her hips and waited for him to continue. "I've done exactly what you said, stayed out of your way while you had your little Scooby reunion. You're the one who came here to see me." He reached for her again but she moved her arm out of his way.

"I didn't come here to see you. I need to ask you something."

"So? Get on with it then."

"We need to use your crypt for headquarters."

"No."

"Spike…"

"Are you kidding me, Buffy? I'm already the laughing stock of the underworld. Killing demons, falling in love with slayers, having a soul."

"Slay_ers_?" The word flew out of her mouth before she could stop them, and she inwardly winced as soon as they were out in the open.

Spike shrugged. "Yeah. Is it so hard to believe that maybe I found someone new?"

"Nope. As a matter of fact, I think it would be extremely healthy for you to move on. Anyway, you're just going to have to get over not being voted Little Miss Popularity for now."

"Why do you have to use my place? What's wrong with yours?" he asked in a low growl, sticking a cigarette in his mouth and lighting it with a match.

"Demonic activity isn't really wholesome conversation that one discusses with an eight-year-old."

Spike nodded. "Right. How is the little bit?"

"Fine. Look Spike, there's um…another favor."

"Oh, Christ. What now?" he asked, pouring himself a shot.

Buffy didn't bother to point out that it was barely noon. "I haven't really mentioned to the others that you're…you know, you." Spike knocked the shot back, not seeming to acknowledge what she was getting at, or even that she'd spoken. "So…you have to leave now."

His only response was a dark chuckle. "Now I _know_ you're joking." When he saw the serious look on her face, he asked, "You're actually serious?" sounding amused. "You can forget it. It's not my fault that you're not telling your friends about me." He paused, like he heard something from far away. "Wait a minutes. I think we've had this conversation once before."

"Spike – "

"Or twice."

"Spike – "

"Or a thousand times. Only back then you were doing something wrong. So what are you doing wrong now, Slayer?"

"I'm not doing anything wrong." Her voice cracked and she ignored it before continuing. "Everyone just got back. I don't want to throw them all into it. Not to mention, it's not like any of them were your biggest fans."

"I think they'll get over it."

"Spike, can you please _not_ be difficult, just this _one_ time?" she snapped. "I thought that you were supposed to have feelings now, just like everybody else."

Spike sighed and Buffy recognized it as giving in. It was the same sigh he used to give after saying that he wouldn't sleep with her again unless she told her friends about him. He always did anyway. "Fine. I'll go," he resigned, picking up his blanket from the recliner in front of the TV. "But you have to tell them Buffy, or I will."

"Wait a minute," Buffy mocked. "I think we've had this conversation once before," she repeated.

He smirked, opening the door to the crypt.

"Or twice," she continued, stepping closer to him. "Or…a thousand…" Buffy locked eyes with Spike then. He was so close to her. Her head felt light, something was making her dizzy. _Just don't look at his mouth…oh, damn it_. Buffy tilted her face up, could feel her eyes closing against her will…

"I'll see ya," Spike said so abruptly that Buffy nearly jumped.

"Right. Sure," she breathed out as Spike, covered from the sun, made his way to the nearest sewer entrance. Buffy shook her heard and flipped her cell phone open to tell the gang that the place was safe for them. Now she just had to figure out how any of this was safe it was for her.


End file.
